This invention relates to a method of increasing the probability of a female parent conceiving a child of the desired sex, by use of infrared radiation analysis. This method has application by medical personnel during individual counseling of couples wishing to increase the probability of having either a boy or a girl, as well as by government officials as a part of population control practices. Use of the technique described in this application will substantially reduce both abortion and the birth of additional children of one sex while the parents are trying to conceive a child of the opposite sex.
Techniques for enhancing the probability of conceiving a child of a predetermined sex are known. In general, these techniques involve manipulating the father""s sperm to either increase the percentage of sperm carrying the genetic material for either a male or female offspring exposed to the mother""s egg for fertilization, or altering the motility of the sperm so that sperm carrying the desired genetic material have an increased probability of fertilizing the egg.
In one technique, the father""s semen is extracted and the sperm are caused to swim through a viscous substance in a laboratory test tube. Sperm having an X-chromosome, which produce females, are larger than the Y-chromosome bearing sperm which produce males. The Y-chromosome sperm swim faster, and so can be separated from the X-chromosome sperm. The result is two semen samplesxe2x80x94one rich in X-chromosome sperm and one rich in Y-chromosome sperm. One or the other sample is then inseminated artificially into the mother.
The other technique is extract semen from the father and eggs from the mother, fertilize the eggs in vitro, and then analyze the DNA of the fertilized eggs to determine which of the embryos are male and which are female. Then, a embryo having the desired sex is implanted into the mother""s uterus. This procedure is very expensive, and is ordinarily used in instances where parents want to avoid passing along to their children sex-linked diseases or defects, such as muscular dystrophy or hemophilia. Because of ethical and technological concerns, it is normally not used when parents merely prefer one sex to the other.
These techniques require artificial insemination. In other words, the semen is obtained from the father, manipulated according to one of several techniques, and then introduced into the mother""s womb in precise timing with ovulation. These medical techniques are quite expensive and time-consuming and convert normal and natural mating into a medical procedure devoid of normal human reproductive interaction.
Other techniques, such as douching with acidic or basic liquids before intercourse, have not been proven to improve the probabilities of a child of one or the other sex being conceived.
Infrared analysis of human beings has be common for many years. Many medical procedures, such as determining blood circulation efficiency and the location of tumors, rely on thermographs taken of parts of the human body. Human skin is an almost perfect absorber, and hence, emitter of infrared radiation. With a perfect emitter of infrared radiation defined as having an emissivity index of 1.00, human skin has an emissivity index of 0.98. This means infrared radiometric techniques are relatively simple and accurate when used in measuring the temperature of human skin.
Infrared temperature measurement is carried out with an infrared scanning device. The scanning field is optically scanned point by point to create a mosaic picture. This happens at a scan rate sufficiently rapid that the image generated appears instantaneous and continuous, as in a television picture. A typical infrared scanner acquires infrared radiation from the target and reflects the radiation onto a vertical oscillating mirror which reflects it upwardly to a horizontally oscillating mirror. From the horizontal mirror the radiation is reflected downwardly to a 450 degree angled mirror which sends the beam of radiation to lens which focusses it onto the detector. The infared beam is converted to an electrical signal which is amplified and processed electronically into a television-type picture. Infrared detectors use either Indium Antimonide or Mercury Cadmium Telluride as the detecting crystal. The invention of this application works with either type.
In general, the method according to the invention operates on the principle that there is a relatively high correlation between the infrared body temperature of human beings and the effect of that temperature on the probability of either a X-chromosome (female gender determining) or Y-chromosome (male gender determining) sperm achieving union with the female""s egg. While there is much that is not known about the effects of temperature, stress and similar human characteristics on sperm behavior, it is known that human stress levels are reflected in varying infrared body temperatures, and that body temperature has an effect on sperm motility and survival.
The inventive method according to this application permits a couple desiring to have either a male or female child to increase the probability of doing so without expensive and complicated medical procedures, and in a manner more in keeping with normal human reproductive activities.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a method of increasing the probability of a female parent conceiving a child of the desired sex by use of infrared radiation analysis.
It is another object of the invention to provide a method of increasing the probability of a female parent conceiving a child of the desired sex which avoids costly medical treatments and techniques.
It is another object of the invention to provide a method of increasing the probability of a female parent conceiving a child of the desired sex which permits the parents to reproduce in a normal human manner, and particularly without any form of artificial insemination.
It is another object of the invention to provide a method of increasing the probability of a female parent conceiving a child of the desired sex which utilizes information regarding the infrared temperature of the parents.
These and other objects of the present invention are achieved in the preferred embodiments disclosed below by providing a method of increasing the probability that a woman will conceive either a male child or female child, comprising the steps of determining a baseline stress level of the father, determining a baseline stress level of the mother, categorizing the determined stress levels of the mother and the father as either xe2x80x9chighxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9clowxe2x80x9d according to a predetermined categorization criteria, and correlating the stress level of the mother and the father according to a correlation where in the case of high stress for both the mother and the father, the probability of a male child is greater than the probability of a female child is, with increased possibilities of infertility or miscarriage; in the case of high stress for one of the mother or the father and low stress for the other of the mother or the father, the probability of a male child is greater than the probability of a female child in the case of low stress for both the mother and the father, the probability of a male child is less than the probability of a female child. The information derived is applied by utilizing the sex probabilities according to the criteria where procuring conception of the child without alteration of the stress level of the mother and father if the indicated probability of conceiving a male or female child favors the mother and father""s preference, or procuring conception of the child after altering the normal stress level of the mother and/or father to increase the indicated probability of conceiving a child of the sex preferred by the mother and father.
According to one preferred embodiment of the invention, the step of determining the stress level of the mother and the father comprises determining the infrared temperature of a body appendage of each.
According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the body appendages are a mother""s hand and a father""s hand.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the step of procuring conception of the child after altering the normal stress level of the mother and/or father includes the step of prescribing medication to reduce the indicated stress level.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the step of procuring conception of the child after altering the normal stress level of the mother and/or father includes the step of prescribing medication to increase the indicated stress level.
According to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, wherein the steps of determining the stress level of the mother and the father comprise scanning a hand of the mother and a hand of the father with an infrared scanner.